![]() Three main animal cults appeared: the cult of the bear, the wolf, and the wild boar. It is proposed by some authors that the northern warrior tradition originated from hunting magic. Thirteenth-century historian Snorri Sturluson interpreted the meaning as "bare-shirt", that is to say that the warriors went into battle without armour, but that view has largely been abandoned. It likely means " bear-shirt" (compare the Middle English word ' serk, meaning 'shirt'), "someone who wears a coat made out of a bear's skin". The Old Norse form of the word was berserk (plural berserkir). Berserkers are attested to in numerous Old Norse sources.Įtymology A modern reenactor in Germany ![]() In the Old Norse written corpus, berserkers ( Old Norse: berserkir) were those who were said to have fought in a trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the modern English word berserk (meaning "furiously violent or out of control"). ![]() It probably depicts one-eyed Odin guiding a Berserker. One of the Vendel era Torslunda plates found on Öland, Sweden. For other uses, see Berserker (disambiguation) and Zerker (disambiguation). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |